Kenyasi JHS gets $600,000 facelift after years of unsafe conditions

For years, students and teachers at the Kenyasi No. 1 Anglican Junior High School (JHS) in the Asutifi North District of the Ahafo Region lived under the constant shadow of fear due to decaying infrastructure. Weak roofs, cracked walls, broken window frames, and heavily potholed floors had turned daily learning into a serious workplace hazard. The school’s headteacher, Opoku Agyemang, revealed that the threat of structural failure was so severe that teachers conducted lessons under intense anxiety for their physical safety, severely undermining academic performance across the board. Relief has finally arrived following a $600,000 investment by the Underground Mining Alliance (UMA), a service provider at the Newmont Ahafo South mine, through its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program.

Speaking at the official commissioning of the facility on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, in Kenyasi, Mr. Agyemang expressed deep gratitude to UMA for their timely intervention, noting that the renovated facility immediately guarantees the physical safety and comfort of both students and staff. The project aligns directly with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4 (Quality Education) and 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure). By transforming a hazardous facility into a secure, modern learning environment, the initiative advances Target 4. a of the SDGs, which calls for building and upgrading education facilities that are safe, inclusive, and non-violent. Furthermore, it reinforces SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) by showcasing how localised, decentralised leadership can preserve and protect vulnerable rural populations when community resources face structural strain. Studies by the African Centre for School Leadership emphasise that localised,…